2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification – Europe

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The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europen qualification tournament was a rugby league tournament held in October and November 2016 to decide the three European qualifiers for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

Contents

It consisted of a round-robin tournament which saw Wales and Ireland qualify by winning their respective tables. Italy claimed the final qualifying spot in the World Cup after winning a second place play-off against Russia on 4 November 2016.

Background

On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced. [1] Three European teams were granted automatic qualification, as they had reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup; England, France and Scotland.

Ten teams were able to qualify for the qualification tournament, with the first being eliminated when Spain defeated Latvia on 9 May 2015. [2]

Wales and Ireland were granted entry to the qualification tournament. Both teams already had a chance to qualify for the World Cup during the 2014 European Cup, but failed to do so. [3] One of the other tournament places was allocated to the winner of the European Championship C tournament, and the other three were allocated to the top three teams from the European Championship B.

Italy, Russia and Serbia finished as the top three teams in the European Championship B, with Ukraine being eliminated. [4]

Spain finished as the top team in the European Championship C, with Greece and Malta eliminated.

Teams

Qualified teams for final phase:

Squads

Ireland

The final Ireland 22-man squad as of 9 October 2016 is as follows: [5]

Club TeamPlayers
Four Provinces Flag.svg Athboy Longhorns No image.svg Casey Dunne
Four Provinces Flag.svg Ballynahinch Rabbitohs No image.svg Gareth Gill
Four Provinces Flag.svg Belfast Met Scholars No image.svg Chris Hall
Flag of England.svg Bradford Bulls Bullscolours.svg Joseph Keyes
Four Provinces Flag.svg Dublin City Exiles No image.svg James Kelly, Mikey Russell
Four Provinces Flag.svg Galway Tribesmen No image.svg Alan McMahon
Flag of England.svg Halifax Faxcolours.svg Luke Ambler
Flag of England.svg Huddersfield Giants Giantscolours.svg Scott Grix, Oliver Roberts
Four Provinces Flag.svg Ireland Students Ireland colours.svg Matthew Cahoon
Flag of England.svg Leigh Centurions Leigh colours.svg Greg McNally
Flag of England.svg Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldhamcolours.svg Will Hope
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Parramatta Eels Parramatta colours.svg James Hasson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe colours.svg Danny Bridge
Flag of England.svg Rochdale Hornets Rochdale colours.svg Matty Hadden
Flag of England.svg St. Helens Saintscolours.svg Shannon McDonnell
Flag of England.svg Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wcatscolours.svg Liam Finn
Flag of England.svg Warrington Wolves Wolvescolours.svg George King, Toby King, Joe Philbin
Flag of England.svg Whitehaven Haven colours.svg David Allen

Italy

The final Italy 22-man squad as of 8 October 2016 is as follows: [6]

Club TeamPlayers
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Blacktown Workers No image.svg Dean Parata
Flag of Italy.svg Brianza Tigers No image.svg Patrik Ziliotti
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cairns Brothers No image.svg Joel Riethmuller
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Canterbury Bulldogs Canterbury colours.svg Joseph Tramontana
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cronulla Sharks Cronulla colours.svg Jayden Walker
Flag of England.svg Hull Kingston Rovers HKRcolours.svg Terry Campese, Josh Mantellato
Flag of France.svg Lézignan Corbieres LezignanRLcolours.PNG Christophe Calegari
Flag of Italy.svg Lions Brescia No image.svg Giuseppe Pagani
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mackay Cutters Mackay Cutters colours.svg Gavin Hiscox
Flag of England.svg Newcastle Thunder Gthundercolours.svg Gioele Celerino
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Northern Pride Northern Pride colours.png Justin Castellaro, Ryan Ghietti, Colin Wilkie
Flag of Australia (converted).svg North Queensland Cowboys North Queensland colours.svg Kieran Quabba
Flag of England.svg Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldhamcolours.svg Richard Lepori
Flag of the United States.svg *Sacramento Express No image.svg Mirco Bergamasco
Flag of Australia (converted).svg St. George Illawarra Dragons St. George Illawarra colours.svg Shannon Wakeman
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg South Wales Ironmen Scorpions.png Chris Vitalini
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Townsville Blackhawks Townsville Blackhawks colours.png Brenden Santi
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Windsor Wolves No image.svg Ryan Tramonte
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wyong Roos No image.svg Chris Centrone
  • * Denotes a rugby union club.

Russia

The final Russia 22-man squad as of 6 September 2016 is as follows: [7]

Club TeamPlayers
Flag of Russia.svg CSKA Moscow Kirill Kosharin
Flag of Russia.svg Dinamo Viacheslav Eremin, Andrey Kuznetsov
Flag of Russia.svg *Ivanovo White Sharks Ivan Troitskii
Flag of Russia.svg RC Lokomotiv Moscow Vadim Buryak, Leonid Kalinin, Maxim Tsinkovich
Flag of Russia.svg Nara Petr Botnarash, Mikhail Burlutskii, Sergey Gaponov, Anatoly Grigorev,
Sergei Konstantinov, Aleksandr Lysokon, Maksim Suchkov, Denis Tiulenev,
Vladimir Vlasyuk, Nikolay Zagoskin
Flag of Russia.svg Moscow Fili Anton Iunisov, Iustin Petrushka
Flag of Russia.svg Moscow Storm Dmitry Bratko, Igor Chuprin, Vadim Fedchuk
  • * Denotes a rugby union club.

Serbia

The final 22-man squad as of 5 October 2016 is as follows: [8]

Club TeamPlayers
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Blacktown Workers No image.svg David Andjelić
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cabramatta Two Blues No image.svg Reece Grkinić
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Collegians No image.svg Daniel Burke
Flag of England.svg Dewsbury Rams Ramscolours.svg Jason Muranka
Flag of Serbia.svg Dorćol Spiders No image.svg Dalibor Samardžić, Dalibor Vukanović, Stefan Nedeljković, Stevan Stevanović
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kawana Dolphins No image.svg Joshua Marjanović
Flag of Serbia.svg RLK Partizan Belgrade No image.svg Džavid Jašari, Vlado Kušić
Flag of Serbia.svg RLK Radnički Nova Pazova Cronulla colours.svg Pero Madžarević, Žarko Kovačević
Flag of Serbia.svg RLK Red Star Belgrade No image.svg Miloš Ćalić, Miloš Zogović, Vladislav Dedić, Vojislav Dedić
Flag of Australia (converted).svg St Clair Comets No image.svg Chad Grant
Flag of France.svg Villeneuve Leopards VilleneuveRLcolours.PNG Vladica Nikolić
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Western Suburbs Magpies Western Suburbs colours.svg James Mirceski
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wests Tigers Wests Tigers colours.svg Jordan Grant
Unattached No image.svg Ilija Radan

Spain

The final 22-man squad as of 4 October 2016 is as follows: [9]

Club TeamPlayers
Flag of England.svg Army Rugby League Armyrlcolours.png Chris Lopez
Flag of Spain.svg Custodians Madrid No image.svg Antonio Puerta, Daniel Moreno
Flag of England.svg Hull F.C. Hullcolours.svg Joel Marquez-Laynez
Flag of Spain.svg Irreductibles No image.svg Ivan Ordaz
Flag of Spain.svg Los Gossos No image.svg Clement Laguerre
Flag of France.svg Palau XIII Broncos Palaubroncoscolours.png Alexandre Doutres, Cedric Bringuier, Leandre Torres, Mathieu Griffi,
Pierre Negre
Flag of Spain.svg Paterna Dragons No image.svg Matt Dulley
Flag of England.svg Seaton Rangers No image.svg Miguel Charters-Blanco
Flag of France.svg *Stade Français No image.svg Kevin Aparicio
Flag of France.svg Tonneins XIII Tonneinscolours.png Gonzalo Morro
Flag of Spain.svg Torrent Tigres No image.svg Aitor Davila, Juan Pablo Rango, Raul Simo
Flag of Spain.svg Valencia Warriors No image.svg Adrian Alonso, Andrew Pilkington, Luis Thorp
Flag of England.svg Woolston Rovers No image.svg Daniel Garcia
  • * Denotes a rugby union club.

Wales

The final Wales 22-man squad as of 7 October 2016 is as follows: [10]

On October 14, Dai Evans was brought into the squad to replace Calvin Wellington who withdrew due to a hamstring injury. [11]

On October 21, 19-year old Ben Morris was called up to the squad to play in a mid-qualifying campaign test match against Jamaica. [12]

On October 29, Danny Ansell was called up to the squad with a possibility of playing in the last qualifying game against Italy. [13]

* Sam Hopkins was called into the team for the final qualifier against Italy after Jacob Emmitt withdrew due to a hamstring injury. [14]

Club TeamPlayers
Flag of England.svg Gloucestershire All Golds Gloucestershirecolours.png Morgan Evans, Steve Parry, Lewis Reece
Flag of England.svg Hunslet Hawks Hunsletcolours.svg Danny Ansell
Flag of England.svg Leigh Centurions Leigh colours.svg Sam Hopkins
Flag of England.svg London Broncos Broncoscolours.png Elliot Kear, Rhys Williams
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mackay Cutters Mackay Cutters colours.svg Andrew Gay
Flag of England.svg Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldhamcolours.svg Joe Burke
Flag of England.svg Salford Red Devils Redscolours.svg Philip Joseph, Craig Kopczak
Flag of England.svg Sheffield Eagles Sheffeagles colours.svg Matty Fozard
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Souths Logan Magpies Souths-Logan Magpies Colours.svg Ollie Olds
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg South Wales Ironmen Scorpions.png Courtney Davies, Dai Evans, Connor Farrer, Ian Newbury,
Christiaan Roets
Flag of England.svg St. Helens Saintscolours.svg Regan Grace, Ben Morris
Flag of England.svg Swinton Lions Swintoncolours.svg * Jacob Emmitt, Rhodri Lloyd
Flag of England.svg Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wcatscolours.svg Anthony Walker
Flag of England.svg Widnes Vikings Widnes colours.svg Gil Dudson, Lloyd White,

Group stage

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 22007014+564Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup
2Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 21017634+422Advance to fourth round
3Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 200214112980
Source: [ citation needed ]

Wales vs Serbia

15 October 2016 [15]
Wales  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg50 – 0Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
Try: Williams (2) 12', 19
Grace (2) 28', 56
Olds (2) 33', 69'
Davies 46'
Gay 52'
Dudson 76
Goal: White 4/6
Davies 3/3
Report
Try:
Parc Stebonheath, Llanelli
Attendance: 902
Referee: Flag of England.svg Chris Campbell
Player of the Match: Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Elliot Kear
FB1 Elliot Kear
RW2 Regan Grace
RC4 Christiaan Roets
LC18 Andrew Gay
LW5 Rhys Williams
SO6 Courtney Davies
SH7 Ollie Olds
PR8 Gil Dudson
HK9 Lloyd White
PR10 Craig Kopczak (c)
SR11 Rhodri Lloyd
SR15 Joe Burke
LF13 Philip Joseph
Substitutes:
IC14 Steve Parry
IC16 Jacob Emmitt
IC17 Anthony Walker
IC19 Matty Fozard
Coach:
John Kear
FB1 Vojislav Dedić
RW2 Joshua Marjanović
RC3 Miloš Ćalić
LC4 Stevan Stevanović
LW5 Pero Madžarević Yellow card.svg 54' to 64'
FE6 Daniel Burke
HB7 Dalibor Vukanović (c)
PR8 David Andjelić
HK9 Vladislav Dedić
PR10 Jordan Grant
SR11 Chad Grant
SR12 Jason Muranka
LK13 Stefan Nedeljković
Substitutes:
IC14 Ilija Radan
IC15 James Mirceski
IC16 Reece Grkinić
IC17 Džavid Jašari
Coach:
Ljubomir Bukvic

Serbia vs Italy

Italy vs Wales

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1Four Provinces Flag.svg  Ireland 220011622+944Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup
2Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 21015676202Advance to fourth round
3Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 20021286740
Source: [ citation needed ]

Russia vs Spain

Spain vs Ireland

22 October 2016
Spain  Flag of Spain.svg6 – 46Four Provinces Flag.svg  Ireland
Try: Charters-Blanco 62'
Goal: Garcia 1/1
Report
Try: Roberts 2'
Dunne (2) 5', 52'
Littler (2) 29', 74'
Hasson 39'
Peacock 56'
King 66'
Grix 77'
Goal: Finn 5/9
Polideportivo Quatre Carreres, Valencia
Attendance: 323
Referee: Flag of France.svg Patrice Benausse
Player of the Match: Four Provinces Flag.svg Liam Finn
FB1 Daniel Garcia
RW2 Clement Laguerre
RC3 Antonio Puerta
LC4 Alexandre Doutres
LW5 Chris Lopez
FE6 Ivan Ordaz
HB7 Miguel Charters-Blanco
PR8 Luis Thorp
HK9 Nicolas Munoz
PR10 Joel Marquez-Laynez
SR11 Leandre Torres
SR12 Cedric Bringuier Yellow card.svg 65' to 75'
LK13 Kevin Aparicio
Substitutes:
IC14 Andrew Pilkington
IC15 Aitor Davila
IC16 Matt Dulley
IC17 Adria Alonso
Coach:
Darren Fisher
FB1 Shannon McDonnell
RW2 Casey Dunne
RC3 Stuart Littler
LC4 Oliver Roberts
LW5 Alan McMahon
FE6 Scott Grix
HB7 Liam Finn (c)
PR8 James Hasson
HK9 Joseph Keyes
PR10 Luke Ambler
SR11 David Allen
SR12 Will Hope
LK13 George King
Substitutes:
IC14 Haydn Peacock
IC15 Matty Hadden
IC16 James Kelly
IC17 Gareth Gill
Coach:
Mark Aston

Ireland vs Russia

Third place play-off

The final qualifying place was determined by a single knockout match held between the two group runners-up on 4 November 2016.

4 November 2016
20:00 GMT (UTC+0:00)
Italy  Flag of Italy.svg76–0Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Tries: Castellaro (2), Cerruto (2), Lepori (2), Wilkie (2), Campese, Celerino, Centrone, Santi, Wakeman, Walker
Goals: Campese (10/14)
Report (RLIF)
Leigh Sports Village, Leigh
Attendance: 450
Referee: Chris Campbell (England)
Player of the Match: Terry Campese (Italy)
FB1 Mason Cerruto
WG2 Chris Centrone
CE3 Justin Castellaro
CE4 Colin Wilkie
WG5 Richard Lepori
FE6 Terry Campese
HB7 Ryan Ghietti
PR8 Shannon Wakeman
HK9 Dean Parata
PR10Gavin Hiscox
SR11 Jayden Walker
SR12 Brenden Santi
LK13 Joel Riethmuller
Substitutes:
BE14 Joseph Tramontana
BE15 Ryan Tramonte
BE16Giuseppe Pagani
BE17 Gioele Celerino
Coach:
Cameron Ciraldo
FB2Maksim Suchkov
WG14Vadim Tsynkovich
CE3Leonid Kalinin
CE1Nikolay Zagoskin
WG5Vadim Buryak
SO6Aleksandr Lysokon
SH7Denis Tiulenev
PR16Vadim Fedchuk
HK9Vladimir Vlasyuk
PR10Ivan Troitskii
SR11Andrey Kuznetsov
SR12Mikhail Burlutskii
LF13Viacheslav Eremin
Substitutes:
BE8Sergei Konstantinov
BE17Igor Chuprin
BE18Dmitry Bratko
 
Coach:
Denis Korolev

References

  1. QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
  2. Spain defeat Latvia to take first step towards RLWC2017, rlif.com, 10 May 2015
  3. Extra incentive for Wales & Ireland this Euro Championship, rlif.com, 13 October 2014
  4. Serbia claim a historic first-ever victory over Russia - 2017 World Cup qualifying Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.eu.com, 16 May 2015
  5. IRELAND NAME SQUAD AFTER TRIAL MATCH Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com, 9 October 2016
  6. ITALY NAME COSMOPOLITAN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER [ permanent dead link ], rlef.com, 8 October 2016
  7. RUSSIA NAME NEW LOOK SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com, 6 October 2016
  8. THREE DEBUTANTS IN SERBIA 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com, 6 October 2016
  9. FIVE DEBUTANTS IN SPAIN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-18 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com, 4 October 2016
  10. WALES CONFIDENT FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com, 7 October 2016
  11. DAI EVANS DRAFTED IN TO WALES' 22-MAN SQUAD, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 14 October 2016
  12. MORRIS HOPING TO FEATURE FOR WALES AFTER CALL-UP, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 21 October 2016
  13. ANSELL READY FOR WALES DEBUT IF CALLED UPON, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 28 October 2016
  14. International dates for Leigh Centurions pair, Leigh Journal, 29 October 2016
  15. "WALES TO TAKE ON SERBIA IN LLANELLI". walesrugbyleague.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  16. 1 2 "World Cup 2017: Pool breakdown". NRL.com. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  17. "Rugby League World Cup European Qualifier to be staged in Monza". Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  18. "Russia and Spain will kick-off 2017 RLWC European Qualifiers in Moscow". Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.